Highlights:
• Eagle sighting by breakfast.
• Visiting a café in Butte.
• Human interaction with bikers, a photographer, a barista, and a gold digger.
Daily Summary:
• Distance hiked: 30 km
• Starting point: km 710
• Ending point: km 739
• Weather conditions: Hot, baby.
Daily Reflections (challenges, insights, musings):
Today, the weight of existence bore down heavily upon me. Each step on the trail seemed a Sisyphean task, the sheer effort of putting one foot in front of the other almost too much to bear. The journey into Butte, from the outskirts to the heart of downtown, took 90 minutes, and the oppressive heat and cacophonous noise only served to further drain my spirit.
Yet, within the city, a small sanctuary awaited in the form of a café. There, I conversed with some British bikers, their tales of the road a brief respite from my own solitary journey. An elderly man named Gerardo, a photographer who had rekindled his passion, approached me, inquiring about my hike. We parted ways, but then, in a moment of unexpected camaraderie, he returned and offered me a ride. He showed me a photography book called The Americans, with a preface by Jack Kerouac. Three of the 83 photographs were from Butte, capturing moments of a city once thriving.
Gerardo drove me to the KOA camp. Instead of paying $50 to pitch my tent, I approached a man named Sean who already had a tent set up, asking if I could share his lot and split the cost. Initially, he refused, but then he reconsidered. Sean, a gold miner awaiting his next lucrative gig—$1200 a day, he claimed—shared some of his story with me. Butte, a city once rich from gold and silver mining before the discovery of copper, now stood in a state of decay. Its historic brick houses, remnants of a more prosperous past, contrasted sharply with the reality of its present.
The juxtaposition of past wealth and present decline mirrored the struggle within my own soul, each step forward a battle against the inevitable forces of time and entropy.
2000 words about Butte
Butte, Montana, is a city that rose from the rugged hills, a place forged by the hands of men who came to wrest fortune from the earth. Its story is one of grit, hardship, and unyielding spirit, much like the land that surrounds it.
In the late 19th century, the land around Butte was wild and untamed. The mountains were filled with riches, veins of silver and gold that ran deep beneath the surface. The first to come were the prospectors, hardy men with dreams of striking it rich. They scoured the hills, their pickaxes ringing out in the cold mountain air. They found gold and silver, enough to spark a rush, but it was the discovery of copper that changed everything.
By the 1880s, Butte was known as the “Richest Hill on Earth.” Copper was in high demand, especially with the rise of electricity. The Anaconda Copper Mining Company, founded by Marcus Daly, became the behemoth of the industry. Daly was a man of vision, a titan who built not just mines, but a smelter, a railroad, and a town. Under his guidance, Butte grew from a rough mining camp into a bustling city.
The streets of Butte were lined with saloons, brothels, and gambling halls. It was a place where fortunes could be made and lost in a single night. Men from all over the world came to work in the mines. Irish, Italians, Finns, Chinese – they all came seeking a better life, and they brought their cultures with them. Butte became a melting pot, a place where different cultures mixed, sometimes clashed, but always found a way to coexist.
The mines were deep and dangerous. Men worked long hours in the darkness, breathing in dust and fumes, risking their lives with every shift. Disasters were common – cave-ins, explosions, and fires claimed many lives. Yet the miners persevered, driven by the promise of a better future.
Labor unrest was a constant companion to the mining industry. The miners fought for better wages and safer working conditions. The Western Federation of Miners was founded in Butte in 1893, and it became a powerful force in the labor movement. Strikes and clashes with mine owners were frequent, and sometimes violent. In 1914, Frank Little, a labor leader, was lynched by unknown assailants. His murder remains a dark chapter in Butte’s history, a symbol of the bitter struggle between labor and capital.
Politics in Butte was as rough and tumble as the mining itself. William A. Clark, another mining magnate, used his wealth to buy influence and power. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1899, but his victory was tainted by charges of bribery and corruption. Mark Twain famously said of Clark, “He is as rotten a human being as can be found anywhere under the flag.”
Despite the corruption, Butte thrived. The city’s population grew, and so did its influence. The copper mined in Butte was used to electrify the nation. During World War I, Butte’s copper was vital to the war effort. The city’s mines operated around the clock, and Butte became a boomtown once again.
But the boom couldn’t last forever. The Great Depression hit Butte hard. The demand for copper plummeted, and many mines closed. The city struggled, but it never gave up. New technologies and new markets eventually brought a resurgence, but the glory days of Butte’s mining industry were over.
The mid-20th century brought change to Butte. The old underground mines gave way to open-pit mining. The Berkeley Pit, once the richest hill on earth, became a massive hole in the ground, a scar on the landscape. The Anaconda Company continued to dominate, but the days of easy fortunes were gone. The pit brought environmental challenges, and the city had to reckon with the legacy of its mining past.
By the 1970s, the Anaconda Company was in decline. It was sold to the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), but the writing was on the wall. The Berkeley Pit closed in 1982, and with it, a chapter of Butte’s history came to an end. The pit filled with water, becoming a toxic lake, a symbol of the cost of progress.
But Butte’s story didn’t end there. The city found new life in its history and its people. The spirit of Butte, the toughness and resilience of its people, remained. The old buildings were preserved, and the city became a National Historic Landmark District. Tourists came to see the old mines, the historic buildings, and to hear the stories of Butte’s past.
In recent years, Butte has worked to clean up the environmental damage left by the mines. The community has come together to find new ways forward. The city has embraced renewable energy, with wind and solar projects bringing new jobs and new hope. Butte’s history as a mining town is a source of pride, but it is not the only story the city has to tell.
Today, Butte is a city that remembers its past but looks to the future. It is a place where the old and the new coexist, where the spirit of the miners who built the city lives on. It is a place of resilience, where the hardships of the past have forged a community that is strong and united.
Butte’s story is not just about the riches pulled from the ground. It is about the people who came to this place, who built their lives here, and who made Butte what it is today. It is a story of struggle and triumph, of loss and renewal. It is a story that continues to be written, day by day, by the people who call Butte home.
In the end, Butte is a testament to the enduring spirit of the West. It is a city that has faced adversity and come through stronger. It is a place where history is alive, where the past is honored, and where the future is being built. And that is the true legacy of Butte, Montana.